Cabbie who robbed passenger wins mercy

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A taxi driver who dragged a passenger down onto the street and sped away with gifts she was taking to her kids abroad has won a reduced punishment.

The Asian defendant, 30, stole three children’s bags, a backpack and a handbag containing sweets, new clothes, shoes and shampoo. The handbag contained the woman’s Dhs3, 000 and three mobile phones.

He touched her chest then dragged her by her hair and threw her out of the taxi. Prosecutors accused him of breach of modesty and robbery. He denied the molestation charge and acknowledged robbery.

However, he denied using force. “I sped off after she stepped outside.” Prosecutors demanded the toughest punishment applicable. The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced him to three years in jail over the robbery.

It imprisoned him for six months over molestation and ordered he be deported after serving both terms. He entreated the Dubai Appeals Court for mercy. The court has reduced the three-year-jail term to one year.  On the record, the woman was heading abroad. She hailed the defendant in Abu Dhabi and requested him to transport her to the Dubai International Airport on Nov.12 last year. He pulled over in Jebel Ali area.

He kicked her out of the taxi and sped off with her bags and mobile phones. During prosecution questioning, he said that on the way to Dubai he asked her for an affair. She screamed at him. He sped off with her items.

A Yemeni corporal said he was netted at the Abu Dhabi International Airport trying to flee the country with the woman’s handbag. An Emirati lieutenant said she spent two days at the Jebel Ali Police Station crying.

“She said the defendant took her money, phones and bags. And that the bags contained gifts she was taking to her little children. She pointed to her chest saying he touched her chest and also dragged her by the hair.”

The Abu Dhabi Police handed him over. During Dubai Police interrogations, he confessed to have decamped with her bag and mobile phones.